A shared tragedy.

Empathy, Grief in Pakistan at Mumbai Mayhem

by Beena Sarwar at Inter Services Press.

KARACHI - The terrorist attacks unleashed in the Indian port city and financial hub of Mumbai continue to reverberate through Pakistan at a personal level and on the media. (Pakistan in one year alone has suffered 1,400 dead from terrorist acts, one one wonders what is the true casualties of the security forces and the militants in the NWFP in Pakistan...........it could be higher, much higher. As a poor country with an economy 10 times smaller than India, the impact of such events is far greater on Pakistan; India with a population 6.5 times bigger has suffered about 900 dead so far including the recent tragedy in Mumbai, claiming 195 lives? so far) The crisis, that began Wednesday night and lasted through Friday, dominates conversation, newspaper headlines, television coverage and Internet chatter on indigenous websites and e-mail lists run by Pakistanis at home and abroad. (Yes I am also focusing on it!) As a frontline state in United States' global "war on terror" Pakistan is only too well acquainted with the effects of terrorism, with such attacks in the country having more than doubled and the number of deaths quadrupling from 2006 to 2007, according to a report released in May by the US State Department. (A front line state against terror, whose army is trained by the USA/UK, through training packages, and the ISI created by the British in 1948, with extremely close linkages with the USA) However, even the most high profile attack in Pakistan which destroyed the Marriott Hotel in the capital Islamabad on Sep. 20, that some analysts termed Pakistan's "9/11," pales in comparison to the events in Mumbai that have claimed over 155 lives already, that many are now calling India's "9/11." (I don't know whether I would term it that way..........what happened in Mumbai looks like commando operations by a desperate group of "politicised" criminals from India RSS with linakages with foreign groups possibly from Israel, and the West. Eye witnesses and Indian commando's clearly saw WHITE people with blond hair, punk hairstyles, in certain scenes such as the hotels operating as terrorists, with intercepted conversations in Hindi in other places........In that sense it could not be described as India's 9/11) A group of at least 25 men armed with assault rifles and handgrenades attacked 10 sites in Mumbai and then barricaded themselves inside two of the city's finest luxury hotels, the heritage Taj Mahal and the Oberoi Trident, as well as a building housing a Jewish center. (It wouldn't be the best way to advertise Pakistan, and Islam at this particular time, but a damned good way to slur Pakistan and Islam.........by??????Hindi speakers, Mauritius government ID Cards; they buy liquor and other supplies; Some of them white, with blond hair with punk hairstyle............10 sites targeted, by 25 men in Mumbai? Who is familiar with playing these cryptic games? Looking not so much to kill as many USA/UK citizens as possible, as very few actually died(for that they could have gone to the beaches of GOA with Uzi's or Heckler-Kochs)............they were looking for fire fights with the Mumbai cities anti-terror capabilities to test it? To advertise its weakness? To warn it against further investigations of the RSS/false flag ops linkages .) By the time commando squads flushed out the buildings, 155 people lay dead, among them eight foreigners. The final death toll may well reach 200, according to officials. There has been widespread condemnation in Pakistan against the violence in Mumbai, from ordinary people and non-government organizations as well as from the Pakistan government which has offered "complete cooperation" and support to India to fight the menace. (It would help also if Zardari/Kiyani finally decided to visit India. Now I appreciate they are puppets of the USA/UK, but even so puppets have some leeway, don't they. Malaki wants USA troops out of Iraq; Karzai says he would like foreign troops out too!!!!!!! My request is for Zardari/Kiyani to finally express genuine solidarity with the people of India, and South Asia in general by making formal state visits to India, soon) The Mumbai attacks, hitting in the midst of the fifth round of the ongoing composite dialogue between India and Pakistan, are likely to have wide-ranging repercussions for India and Pakistan relations and for the international community at large. Analysts note that such attacks tend to take place whenever the South Asian neighbors are engaged in talks and peace initiatives. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had barely started his four-day visit to New Delhi to review the dialogue process when the attacks took place. (Hmmmmmm!!!!) Pakistan and India tend to blame each other for terrorist activities within their borders, although over the past year they have been less quick to point fingers. This time too, New Delhi did not immediately blame Pakistan, but later claimed to have arrested a militant with Pakistani links. The Pakistan government has strongly denied involvement. (Pakistan had nothing to do with this, its hands are full dealing with foreign backed insurgency in Baluchistan and NWFP; Its position is weak economically and strategically........and its ISI is the process of being reigned in, with the political wing of the ISI being dismantled) Commentators in Pakistan point to the huge intelligence failure in India to detect the amassing of arms and training that have enabled such a large number of militants to hold Mumbai hostage for over two days now. They also criticize New Delhi's apparent reluctance to look within India's own borders at its various indigenous insurgencies. (Now is an highly insensitive time to blame Indian security forces, especially if the criticism is from a nation like Pakistan which has a worse record in that arena within Pakistan;failure to protect civilians, running through to failure to protect high profile national figures like Benazir Bhutto and a couple of generals) "All of India's intelligence agencies have failed," comments Farrukh Saleem, who heads the Center for Research and Security Studies, an independent think tank in Islamabad, "The most critical element in their collective failure is their overwhelming focus on Pakistan-based militant groups." (Meaningless sweeping statement) He believes that the intensity of this focus has allowed India's homegrown militant entities "to spread like wildfire" that, according to South Asia Terrorism Portal, afflicts at least 231 of India's 608 districts. These insurgent and terrorist movements include three distinct types, "left-wing extremist, separatist and religious," wrote Saleem in a front page analysis in daily The News on Nov. 28. "In 2006, a total of 2,765 Indians died in terrorism-related violence (that same year, 1,471 Pakistanis died similarly)." ( I think the excellent work of Hemant Kakare, ex-RAW and head of ATS Mumbai, shows precisely that they have a very holistic and objective approach to their work.........and when it started he was there immediately on the scene, and not theorizing, pointing fingers and blaming from a good safe distance) Another analyst, who declining to be named, suggests that South Asian countries band together for joint military operations in the areas known to be breeding grounds for militancy against the guerrilla groups operating in different areas in the region. (Why limit South Asian cooperation to just terrorism which is a transnational global affair, with linkages invariably to Israeli and Western Intelligence? Why not create a South Asian security block, merging the armed forces and security forces of South Asia, who look to each other for resources, training, cooperation and exchanging information.............a security block that stands together, and fights together, with no unsubstantiated recriminations by worthless 2 ana politicians angling fr political gain, barely before the incident is over, and full reports being submitted by the proper authorities) In New Delhi, Qureshi stressed that India and Pakistan are both victims of terrorism. He said there was a need to strengthen the Joint Anti-Terror Mechanism and "revisit our strategies for peace and security of the region." "Terrorism is a global phenomenon. We in Pakistan deal with it on a daily basis," Qureshi said. "We will have to join all our resources to fight the menace." (just words at this stage, and gestures for public consumption) In an unprecedented gesture, Islamabad agreed to send its intelligence chief Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shujaa Pasha, the new director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to India at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's request. ( I understand he has had second thoughts...........pressure from the real Masterji?) Pakistan's civilian government in another groundbreaking move has recently disbanded the political wing of the ISI, often blamed for fomenting political trouble in the country and abroad. "I feel a great fear that (the Mumbai violence) will adversely affect Pakistan and India relations," prominent Karachi-based feminist poet and writer Attiya Daud told IPS. "I can't say whether Pakistan is involved or not, but whoever is involved, it is not the ordinary people of Pakistan, like myself, or my daughters. We are with our Indian brothers and sisters in their pain and sorrow." Daud said she is still in shock from the events in Mumbai, a city she has often visited. "Such a beautiful city, so many people's livelihoods and so much art and culture associated with it… It is so painful to see what is happening there. I watch the television coverage and remember standing at one of those spots watching street theater..." Others, like Karachi-based businessman Tahir Siddiqui, believe that events in Mumbai will force greater cooperation not only between India and Pakistan but also between other countries engaged in combating terrorism. "Pakistan can't afford to open any more fronts," Siddiqui told IPS. "We have to cooperate in this fight. I think any support within Pakistan to militants will decrease significantly now, including in Kashmir." He added that the situation in Mumbai is "basically the symptom of a larger problem – the imperialist world's continuing support to dictatorial regimes across the Muslim world, from Indonesia to Morocco. This lack of democracy marginalizes people and holds back development. This is a wake-up call to address these issues." (Marxist perspective, which bears nothing to actual reality...........most terrorist organizations around the world are fronts of Israeli and Western intelligence and their geo-strategy around the globe. You look at the origins and history of ALL terrorist groups/"Freedom fighters" and you will always find some linkage, with intelligence agencies............groups in the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Colombia.....and so on.) On a personal level, what can citizens do? "Resist fear!" advocated Islamabad-based peace activist Shahid Fiaz in an email to friends in India and Pakistan. "I know how it feels when your cities are attacked. After the Marriot Hotel bombing and continued suicide bombings around the country, people go out less - markets and restaurants have a deserted look." Fiaz, who is on the National Council of the Pakistan-India People's Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), the largest people-to-people initiative between the two countries, told IPS that fear is what the terrorists want to achieve. "We need to come out and resist and tell terrorists that these are our cities, we own our cities and we are not scared!" "We in Pakistan understand and share the pain, anger and grief of the people of India, as we are also victims of terrorism including daily suicide bombings in one part of the country or the other," said Iqbal Haider, co-chairman of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and a former federal minister for law and human rights. "Instead of accusing each other, which will only help the real terrorists, the need of the hour is unity and understanding among the people of our region. We need to make concerted efforts to defeat the nefarious aims of these terrorists and eradicate these extremist religious militants or mafias from every nook and corner of South Asia." In the final analysis, what is certain is that there will be no progress towards peace without determined political will. (Inter Press Service)